INTERVIEW
might sell fewer new products”. Frankly, I’d have a mutiny on my hands if I ever uttered this in a meeting. Everything we do is to make our products more useful and longer-lasting. In our minds, the TAM (total addressable market) is anyone who uses a car, so our goal is to attract these drivers, rather than sell to somebody who already owns a Tern. Our view is that if we can keep your Tern going strong for a decade, and keep you satisfied with our product, you’ll influence many more friends and family to consider a Tern. We’re about to celebrate our 15th
birthday. I’m very proud to say that we still have service parts for every bike we’ve ever produced. And more than that, we have the desire to help you keep your Tern on the road, even at the 15-year mark. Now there’s sometimes still too much friction for the consumer to get that part through our supply chain, but it’s an area of focus for us.
Importantly, our business model depends on a LOCAL
bike shop for regular maintenance. We need shop staff who understand the benefits of our product, and how to accessorise it as riders’ needs change. And of course, how to maintain the bike over many years. We recently launched a program called 7+ Years Support, which is essentially our commitment to support our Bosch e-bikes with service parts for a minimum of 7 years. There are lots of riders out there with 3-4 year old ebikes who can’t get replacement batteries, and that is a genuine problem when brands don’t think beyond the typical 2-year warranty period for inevitable battery replacement needs.
For an independent retailer who wants to break into the growing cargo market but is hesitant about the initial capital layout and inventory risk, what does the entry point look like with Tern? Obviously, there are territories to consider. We like to give our dealers some exclusive space, but if there’s an open territory, we try to keep the buy-in hurdle low with only three bikes. We warehouse bikes, accessories, and service parts in Derby and have special programs for Demo bikes, a B2B ordering website, and the usual stuff. We also have dedicated PR and social media agencies to drive consumer demand. Most importantly, we have a great team of people to
work with. Urban and cargo bikes are a healthy and growing category, and if you’re a shop thinking of expanding in this area, and there’s no Tern dealer around the corner, then give us a call.
www.bikebiz.com
For a retailer trying to justify a Tern unit to a budget- conscious customer, what sets Tern apart from the competition? We understand that our bikes land at the more premium end of the price spectrum. I’d start by saying that it’s not our intention to build only premium-priced bikes. But it does cost to engineer a bike well, to choose component suppliers that will support products for the next decade, to build the bike at a reputable factory, do tremendous amounts of testing, and then to sell through local bike shops. But we believe this is the minimum a consumer should expect when they purchase a bike meant to replace car trips. i.e. a well-designed product that is designed to be safe, tested and certified to be safe, and one that they can expect to be on the road well beyond the 2-year warranty period. Price is important, but we believe each bike has to meet minimum safety and testing standards. And for a cargo bike, that safety standard is EN179860. Whether you’re a dealer or a potential customer, you need to make sure that any cargo bike you might buy has been tested to EN17860 at the claimed gross vehicle weight. It’s also important to consider the Total Cost of Ownership of an ebike designed for daily transport. If you plan to own the bike for 3, 5, or 7 years, it’ll require regular maintenance. A cheap ebike won’t make it that long. We’ve recently launched a Warranty Transfer program to help original owners recoup even more value and to give additional peace of mind to new owners. And, importantly, we integrate the local bike shop into the Warranty Transfer process.
July 2026 | 47
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
